


Once a king or queen

by a_la_grecque



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-08-22 21:14:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8301334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_la_grecque/pseuds/a_la_grecque





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Merfilly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/gifts).



Edmund was down from Oxford for his winter break, and it was really no trouble for him to spend it at home. He supposed he should be putting in more effort to find himself a suitable social set, but in truth nothing in Oxford ever felt quite real to him. It seemed so absurd that a world like that could exist in tha places, after the horrors of the war and everything he'd been through in Narnia.

So truthfully, he was glad of the excuse to turn down all the invitations he was inexplicably getting. It seemed like he was still a desirable commodity, although he had no desire to get involved with anyone else. The reason wasn't quite so pleasant though. Lucy was really far too old to need a family member to stay at home with her while their parents went to visit Susan for Christmas, but he received a most disturbing letter from his mother asking him to give up his own break to be with her. 

She'd been going downhill for months, seemingly. He'd hardly seen her in a year, after spending the whole summer working with Professor Kirke to get himself ahead with his coursework, so he hardly knew what to expect. His mother seemed concerned that she might be going mad, and it reminded him uncomfortably of the last time the family had worried about her mental state, during those early days in the country during the war.

Uncomfortable because he'd been more responsible for her unhappiness than he cared to admit, but he could hardly be to blame this time. Things had been different between them for so long - you could hardly go to the end of the world with someone and not come back as good friends... even Eustace was more of a chum these days. 

So it was with mixed feelings that he packed his bags at the end of term and headed homewards. There really was a startling change in his youngest sister - she was more grown up than the last time he'd seen her, but that wasn't what surprised him. After all, he'd already seen her grow up three times before. What shocked him was her listlessness, she floated through the days like one in a dream, or wrapped in an enchantment. There was something about her face that was slightly wrong. Still, she was lucid enough, and calm while their parents were making their goodbyes. 

She dozed through the afternoon, and Edmund was a little surprised to see her going to bed earlier. He stayed up late that night himself, caught up in one of his required texts for the following term. It was well after midnight when he finally headed upstairs, and some queer impulse made him check Lucy's room. 

It was one of those cold, clear nights where the moon was almost as bright and clear as the Narnian moon, so her room was almost as brightly lit as it was during the daytime. More than bright enough for him to see that Lucy's bed was empty. He ran to the window to check it was still secure, and he was certain she couldn't have moved stealthily enough to come down the stairs without him noticing, even as he was absorbed in his books.

For one mad instant he thought that Aslan had pulled her back into Narnia, and he wasn't sure whether to be happy for her or jealous he didn't get to join her. Then he heard the faintest of noises coming from the wardrobe. 

It was open just a crack, because of course Lucy was far too sensible to ever shut herself into a wardrobe. Holding his breath and trembling with hope, he pulled open the door. 

There was no refreshing blast of Narnian air, no furs and certainly no fir trees. Just his sister, crumpled on the floor in her nightgown, with tears streaming down her face. 

"Oh, Lu!" He knelt beside her and patted her awkwardly on the shoulder.   
"Why, Ed?" Her voice was harsh from crying. "Why did he send us away?"  
He didn't know if she meant Aslan or Caspian, if she was talking about both of them or referring to herself with the royal we. It didn't really matter, after all, he didn't have an answer to any of those questions. 

All that mattered was that he could offer her some comfort in this moment, and his arms went around her and pulled her close. Her tears soaked through his shirt, and he could feel the damp warmth of her breath pushing against his heart. He buried his nose in her hair, and it smelled like something he remembered from their days in Cair Paravel, like she'd carried a piece of Narnia with her. And she had, of course, in her heart. 

He kissed the top of her head and let one hand tangle in her hair, the other one rubbing gentle circles on her back. He had no idea how long they stayed like that, but the moon was still bright when her breathing began to still, and her tears slowly ceased. Finally she pulled away, and as he looked into her face, still wet from crying, there was something undeniably royal in it, a look of the queen she hadn't yet grown up to be. And so it was a queen's kiss he sought when he bent his head to her lips.


End file.
